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Because of the complexity of the work and its tight connection with the lyrics and the plot, I recommend that you listen to the audio while reading the text. The audio portion has been prepared based on this approach.
Welcome to the 7th edition of “Classic’s Choice”. Today we bring you “Passion Play – Part 1”.
In my opinion, Passion Play is one of the most underrated albums in the history of classic progressive rock. The first thing that we must keep in mind is that, more than a concept album, Passion Play is a musicalized stage play. One of the reasons why many people dismiss the album is because the lyrics are “too dense”. However, even though some images may be difficult to assimilate in the context of the play, the overall plot can be followed without too much effort.
The way in which the music portrays the events of the play is rarely matched in the history of progressive rock. And in this particular case, this achievement is even more remarkable if we take into account the fact that part of the work is based on ideas recovered from the “Château D’Isaster” sessions. Whole fragments were used, that were finished works with different lyrics. Despite this, Passion Play did not become the Frankenstein that one would have expected. On the contrary, the work is tight and very coherent.
Since this is music to a stage play, we must analyze the work, from a musical point of view, based on motives (leitmotifs) and the evolution of the plot, rather than trying to find an overarching form to the overall structure of the piece.
Therefore, we must start by understanding the plot.
In summary, the play describes what happens between death and birth: the journey of Ronnie Pilgrim through his afterlife. Quoting Tim Smolko from his book “Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play – Inside Two Long Songs” (page 124):
Interviewed by Bryan Matthew on “Jethro Tull Story, Part 3”, Ian Anderson says:
In order to follow the plot I will use Neil Thomason’s excellent analysis which can be found in his Ministry of Information website.
The play is structured in four acts:
- Overture
- Act One, Scene One: Ronnie Pilgrim’s funeral
- Act One, Scene Two: Wandering in limbo
- Act Two, Scene One: The memory bank
- Act Three, Scene One: Heaven
- Act Three, Scene Two: Hell
- Act Four, Scene One: Where now?
- Act Four, Scene Two: The Ferry.
Before analyzing each section, I would like to point out the use of several motives used throughout the piece that are key to the coherence of the piece as a whole. Tim Smolko identifies 6 main motives:
Motive 1 is the rhythmic pattern of the heart beat:
Motive 2 is probably the easiest to distinguish:
This is Motive 3
This is Motive 4
This is Motive 5
The last motif is the phrase “Passion Play” repeated along the entire work.
So, let’s get on with the Overture and its music.
Overture
Neil Thomason gives a good description of how the Play started during live performances in 1973:
This is the original movie played at those concerts:
As mentioned already, the piece is cyclical and starts and ends with a heartbeat. The Overture, also begins and ends with a heartbeat and introduces two of the principal motifs that will be used throughout the piece. Notice that soon after the heartbeat (that is, Motive 1) is easily heard, a soprano saxophone introduces Motive 2:
After the initial effects, we find the first stroke of genius in the piece: instead of a dark ominous atmosphere to depict the death of Ronnie Pilgrim, what we find is a lively gigue in 9/8. It is a macabre dance of death in baroque style!!:
Remember again the rhythm of motive 1:
This rhythmic motive, linked to the heartbeat, is the basis for the Overture’s main theme:
The rest of the gigue is also based on a development of motive 1.
After the gigue, at the end of the Overture, we hear the heartbeat slowing down and decreasing in pitch until a door bang clearly indicates the end of Ronnie’s transit on earth:
By the way, no other Tull’s album features Anderson’s abilities as a sax player more extensively than in Passion Play.
Act One, Scene One: Ronnie Pilgrim’s funeral
Scene: A winter’s morning in the cemetery. A group of mourners stand around a grave. As the curtain rises, RONNIE, a ghost, rises from the grave and joins the congregation, listening to his own eulogy.
Instead of a line-by-line analysis of the lyrics, I will just highlight those that are particularly relevant for the understanding of the section. For a detailed lyrics analysis I refer you again to Neil Thomason’s article.
The wonderful phrase: “The silver cord lies on the ground” summarizes perfectly the lyrics of this section.
The form of this scene is:
A-A’-brief interlude- B (free form with recalls of Motive 2)
Sections A are a description of the funeral scene as seen by Ronnie.
Section B shows Ronnie’s reflection of the life that just ended – his achievements, mistakes, disappointments, etc.
Section B has a very important verse:
Thomason’s interpretation is quite accurate:
Note the clever modulation to support the phrase: “crowding in a different key”. Does it sound familiar?
It’s the Neapolitan cadence over the dominant chord. He uses it to move from D flat Major to A major, and then again to modulate to F, the tonality of Act One, Scene Two.
The last verses in all the stanzas in sections A and B are based on Motive 2.
A
“Do you still see me even here?”
(The silver cord lies on the ground.){ “And so I’m dead”, the young man said
over the hill (not a wish away). } Motive 2
A’
My friends (as one) all stand aligned
although their taxis came too late.{ There was / a rush along the Fulham Road.
There was / a hush* in the Passion Play. } Motive 2 (* notice the effect that supports the word hush)
Brief Interlude
B
Such a sense of glowing in the aftermath
ripe with rich attainments all imagined
sad misdeeds in disarray
the sore thumb screams aloud,
{ echoing out of the Passion Play. } Second part of Motive 2All the old familiar choruses come crowding in a different key:
Melodies decaying in sweet dissonance.{ There was a rush along the Fulham Road
into the Ever-passion Play. } Motive 2
With all these elements in mind, let’s listen to Act One, Scene One:
Instrumental 1
This instrumental section serves as an interlude between both scenes of Act One.
Tim Smolko divides the piece into 6 climax cycles. We will be referring to them as we progress in the piece. The first climax cycle goes from the beginning of the vocals in Act One, Scene One, to the end of this instrumental section. 3 dry beats in the snare drum’s rim provide the cue for a section that, like the Overture’s gigue, start in 9/8. However, notice how in 00:24 they suddenly move to an 11/8 beat until the end of the section. Again, this is one of the few passages in Tull’s discography where you will appreciate Anderson’s ability as a sax player.
This instrumental section describes the moment when Ronnie finally moves away from the physical realm and assumes his new state. The acute change in rhythm and the intensity of the passage are excellent ways to depict Ronnie’s despair as he starts to wander in this strange new environment. He finally reaches limbo.
Act One, Scene Two: Wandering in limbo
Scene: The empty desert of Limbo. RONNIE wanders aimlessly, until an ANGEL arrives to guide him on to the next stage of the afterlife.
An angel escorts Ronnie, and although he didn’t believe in gods or angels, she is compassionate. According to Thomason, the verse:
Represent the words of the prophets in the Bible. I believe that thinking about “illuminated words” contained in a leather bound book is more fitting because it could apply to any creed or religion. At any rate, the importance of this phrase is that this gift triggers Ronnie’s reflection on who he is – about good and evil and his acts while on Earth. The wonderful phrase:
Indicates that Ronnie, who’s life on Earth was not remarkable, starts to understand that he is important and that he must pursue the understanding of who he really is.
The form of this scene is a simple strophe:
If you want to read the rest of the article, you need to buy it:
Resources
This analysis would not have been possible without the solid foundation laid by Tim Smolko in his book: “Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. Inside Two Long Songs” 2013. Indiana University Press.
Of equal importance is the splendid, accurate and detailed lyrics analysis provided by Neil Thomason.
In this link you can download a pdf version of Max Heindel’s “Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception”.
“A Passion Play” art cover images were taken directly from my personal 1974 vinyl copy of the album.
The background music used is:
- The pieces “Docks”, “Beached”, “Sasquatch” and “Durkik” from Camel’s live album “Coming of Age”
- The pieces “My Heart Deserves a Holiday” and “Tramontana” from the album “Random Acts of Happiness” by Bill Bruford’s Earthworks
- The piece “The Sparrow” by the Japanese band Fantasmagoria, from their album “Day and Night”
Unfortunately, since this amazing work was so poorly received by the critics, “A Passion Play” was soon removed from Tull’s live repertoire so there is very little in terms of historical documents. These are 4 videos taken from Jethro Tull’s YouTube channel:
The Hare:
This is “Critique Oblique” from Château D’Isaster Tapes. Very interesting to see how Anderson was able to incorporate this material into the plot of “A Passion Play”:
